Libris Britannia 4

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Libris Britannia 4 / science library(b).zip / science library(b) / TECHNICA / COMPUTER / 1253.ZIP / README.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1988-05-07 | 34KB | 776 lines

Draw2Me DISK MANUAL DLS Development One Gale Road Brick, NJ 08723 (201) 920-6807 Member Association of ShareWare Professionals Draw2Me is a program that combines the features of a draw program with those of a modem program to create a unique new concept in graphic telecommunications. Draw2Me allows two people to connect their computers via modem and "draw" the same picture. Both users see any changes and additions at the same time. The Draw2Me Philosophy The people at DLS Development created Draw2Me with one thing in mind: To create a program that would allow two people to "Draw" to one another by the means of their computer and standard telephone lines. It is NOT intended to be just another draw program. For this reason, the drawing area of the Draw2Me screen (the Canvas), has been made to the largest size possible, and the icons and other perimeters made readable, but smaller than most other draw program icons. DLS Development knows that it's your dime! (It's not even a dime anymore!) You are paying for use of the phone lines, and you don't need the added expense of having to stay on line longer because the screen was too small to convey a "point" to your counterpart. Draw2Me was designed for IBM's CGA medium resolution mode. This was done because CGA is currently the most widely used graphics card. This allows colors, which can aid in describing details of a drawing. The Draw2Me commands are designed to work with all future releases of the program, even though the other user is running a video card with different colors and different number of colors. A Note on Shareware Draw2Me is Shareware. This means that you are free to copy the Shareware version from a friend, or download it from a bulletin board and try the program out. If you find that you like the program, and you believe that it will be useful to you, the right thing to do is to obtain a registered copy from DLS Associates. The price of registration is only $89.95 and encourages the development of other high quality ShareWare products. LICENSE All versions of Draw2Me are not public domain software, nor are they free software. Draw2Me is Copyright (c) 1988 by DLS Development. The Draw2Me protocols and transmission methods are also copyright DLS Development. Licensing arrangements may be made by contacting us. Non-registered, non-commercial users are granted a limited license to use Draw2Me on a trial basis for the purpose of determining whether Draw2Me is suitable for their needs. Use of Draw2Me, except for this limited purpose, requires registration. The registration of Draw2Me by any for profit business, corporation, governmental agency or other entity institution is not optional and is otherwise strictly forbidden. Registration permits a user the license to use Draw2Me only on a single computer; a registered user may use the program on a different computer, but may not use the program on more than one computer at the same time. No user may modify Draw2Me in any way, including but not limited to decompiling, disassembling or otherwise reverse engineering the program. All users are granted a limited license to copy Draw2Me only for the trial use of others subject to the above limitations, and also the following: Draw2Me must be copied in the unmodified form, complete with this file containing the license information. The full Draw2Me documentaion must be included with the copy. No fee, charge or other compensation may be accepted or requested by any licensee. Draw2Me may not be distributed in conjunction with any other product without prior written permission. Operators of electronic bulletin board systems (Sysops) may post Draw2Me for downloading by their users only as long as the above conditions are met. Distributors of public domain or user supported software may distribute copies of Draw2Me subject to the above conditions only after obtaining written permission from DLS Development. Such permission usually is granted; please write for details. See the Ordering Section for more information on registration, corporate site licensing and similar topics. WARRANTY DLS Development makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantibility and/or fitness for a particular purpose. DLS Development shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program to operate in the manner desired by the user. DLS Development shall not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of the program. In no event will DLS Development be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use or inability to use the program, or for any claim by any other party. USER REGISTRATION The registered copy of Draw2Me consists of: The complete Draw2Me program. Complete owners manual. One hour of telephone support. Two FREE updates. And, if ordered before August 31st, 1988, a discount certificate toward Draw2Me Plus! Draw2Me Plus includes: Fully simultaneous drawing capabilities. 9600 baud support. User defined keyboard and drawing macros. Specialized libraries. CGA, EGA, VGA, Hercules compatibility. Microsoft Windows tm compatibility. Printer drivers. Drawing device drivers. ... And then some! To get your registered copy of Draw2Me, type REGISTER at the DOS prompt. This will print out a registration form. NOTE: If you do not have a printer connected to your computer, type TYPE REGISTER.TXT. This will print the registration form to the screen so that you can copy all the information down and send it to DLS Development. Be sure to include everything on the form! After you have printed out the registration form, send it along with a check or money order (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express also accepted) payable to DLS Development for $89.95 plus $10.00 shipping and handling (plus an additional $5.00 if COD) to: DLS Development 1 Gale Road Brick, NJ 08723 In New Jersey, please include state sales tax. Please allow two weeks for delivery. GETTING STARTED What You Need to Get Started : Any IBM-compatible computer. A mimium of 320k of memory (RAM) At least one 360k disk drive, or a hard disk drive. A monochrome or color monitor. Television sets are not recommended because of their poor resolution. The Disk Operating System (DOS) for your computer. A modem (preferably Hayes compatible) A Mouse, along with the software to make it operate (Driver). You will also need: One blank, formatted, 5 1/4-inch single or double-sided floppy diskette. Refer to your DOS manual if you have any questions of formatting floppys. This will be used to make a working copy of Draw2Me. The following is a list (not necessarily complete) of the files that should, as a minimum, be present on the Draw2Me distribution diskette : ALONE.CFG CALLER.CFG CGAVIDEO.TBL D2MCFG.EXE LOGFIX.EXE D2MPHONE.DIR DIRECT.CFG DRAW2ME.000 DRAW2ME.COM HARDINST.BAT HOST.CFG README.TXT REGISTER.BAT REGISTER.TXT Several .D2M demo picture files Preparing the Working Copy Before you can use Draw2Me, you have to complete some preparatory steps. Then you will be ready to begin the tutorial section of this manual. Your first step is to make a working copy of Draw2Me diskette. This is done because floppy diskettes are susceptible to damage. If The Draw2Me diskette were to become lost or damaged, you would have to purchase a new copy. This way, if ever you should loose or damage the working copy, you can always make another from the original. Making the Working Copy: Two-drive Systems Place the Draw2Me diskette in drive A, and the blank, formatted diskette in drive B. At the DOS prompt, type: COPY A:*.* B: Then, press ENTER. After your computer has completed copying all of the files from the Draw2Me diskette to your working copy, place the original Draw2Me diskette in a safe place. Remember, only use the original Draw2Me diskette for making a working copy, not for running Draw2Me. Making the Working Copy: Single-drive Systems Place the Draw2Me diskette in drive A. At the DOS prompt, type: COPY A:*.* B: then press ENTER. Even though you do not have a drive B, this command is needed to tell the computer that you want to make a copy of all the content of the disk in drive A. The computer will then prompt you: Place the source in drive A, then press ENTER. The source disk is the Draw2Me diskette. After a few moments, your computer will prompt you: Place target disk in disk in drive A, and press ENTER. The target disk is the blank, formatted floppy diskette that you prepared earlier. After your computer has completed copying all of the files from the Draw2Me diskette to your working copy, place the original Draw2Me diskette in a safe place. Remember, only use the original Draw2Me diskette for making a working copy, not for running Draw2Me. Making a Working Copy: Hard Drive Systems To install Draw2Me on your hard drive, place the Draw2Me diskette in drive A, and type: HARDINST. Hardinst will create a sub-directory called c:\draw2me, and copy all of the files from the Draw2Me diskette automatically. TUTORIAL Introduction to Tutorial In this section, you will learn how to use Draw2Me step by step. The tutorial will take about one half hour, and it is recommended that you try to finish it on one sitting, for this will produce the best results. The tutorial is divided into the following sections: Configuration/Loading the Program Using the Configuration Editor Using the Main Draw2Me Screen Loading and Saving Drawings The Dialing Directory Shelling to DOS While using Draw2Me, don't be afraid to experiment. You can't damage the program or the computer in any way. If you ever get into a situation that you don't know how to get out of, just restart the program using your computer systems reset (see BOOTING in your DOS manual). Configuration/Loading the Program There are four different configurations for Draw2Me. When loading the program, you must first type: DRAW2ME, followed by a space, then the configuration file. This tells the computer which mode you want Draw2Me to be in: The Caller mode, Host, Direct, and Alone modes, all have their respective uses for Draw2Me: DRAW2ME CALLER -Loads Draw2Me and configures the program for initiating a call. DRAW2ME HOST -Loads Draw2Me and configures the program for receiving a call. DRAW2ME DIRECT -Loads Draw2Me and configures the program for "in house" use. DRAW2ME ALONE -Loads Draw2Me for use as a simple non-modem draw program. The Caller Mode Let's try loading Draw2Me. For now, we will be the "Caller". If you have a Hayes compatible modem, the configuration file: CALLER is used. At the DOS prompt, type: DRAW2ME CALLER Then, press ENTER. This will load Draw2Me and automatically bring up the dialing directory (for more information on ectering and manipulating entries, see The Dialing Directory later in this section). Select the desired entry that you wish to dial and press the appropriate key. The main Draw2Me screen will apprar along with a window to tell you the status of your call. NOTE: In order for this to work properly, DRAW2ME HOST must be loaded into the computer that you are calling. In a few seconds, the Draw2Me screen will appear along with the Call Status window displaying the message, "Waiting for connection...". When Draw2Me has made the connection, the Call Status window will disappear, and you are ready to begin drawing with your host (the person at the other end of the line). The Host Mode If you decide that you want to be the one to receive the call, the configuration file HOST is used. To do this, at the DOS prompt, simply type: DRAW2ME HOST Then, press ENTER. In a few seconds, the Draw2Me screen will appear along with the Call Status window displaying the message, "Waiting for connection...". Now, all you have to do is wait for your friend to call you using the CALLER configuration file. The Alone Mode The Alone mode simply allows you to use Draw2Me as a stand alone draw program. All of the icons in the Toolbox function in this mode. The only difference, is that your computer is simply talking to itself! To do this, at the DOS prompt, simply type: DRAW2ME ALONE Then, press ENTER. Using the Main Draw2Me Screen The Cursors When you have made a connection with another user, you will note that there are two cursors on the screen. The X shaped cursor is yours. Note that when you move your mouse, the X moves accordingly. The other users cursor appears as a square box. When you see that cursor moving about the screen, that is your counterpart moving his mouse. NOTE: Whether in the HOST mode, or the CALLER mode, the "local" cursor always appears as the X, and the "remote" cursor always appears as the box. The Watch Cursor The Watch cursor is to tell you that your counterpart is drawing something. Be patient and wait for your cursor to change back to normal. When this occurs, you may resume drawing. Keep in mind that when you are drawing, your counterpart has the watch cursor and may not draw until you are done. Definition of Icons The small picture representations on the left of the Draw2Me screen are known as Icons. This is the Draw2Me Toolbox. Selections of the Tools are made by positioning the cursor over one of the icons, and pressing the LEFT button on the mouse. As a rule, the LEFT button is used for selection and positioning, and the RIGHT button is used to initiate the command ("draw"). The icons from top to bottom are: The Pencil: The Pencil icon allows you to draw a continuous line for as long as the LEFT button on the mouse is being pressed. NOTE: For those with a three button mouse, the CENTER button is always the Pencil. Freehand: The Freehand allows you to place points with the LEFT button (as many as fifty), and then connect them with a line by pressing the RIGHT button. The Rubber-band Line: The Rubber-band Line is used by positioning the cursor where you want your line to start, and then pressing the LEFT button to place a point. After that, You'll see that a line connects your cursor with the previously set point with a "rubber-band effect". If you change your mind, and you want to disregard the first point and set another, simply press the LEFT button again. This resets the starting point of the line. When you have positioned your cursor at the desired place on the Canvas, pressing the RIGHT button will draw the line in the currently selected line color. The "rubber-banding" effect will remain until another icon is selected. The Rubber-band Box: The Rubber-band Box works in much the same manner as the Rubber-band Line. Moving the cursor on to the Canvas and pressing the LEFT button sets a point. Then, moving the cursor creates a box that grows and shrinks along with the movement of the mouse. If you change your mind, and you want to disregard the first point and set another, simply press the LEFT button again. This resets the starting point of the box. To draw the box in the currently selected line color, press the RIGHT button. Now your cursor is free to set a new point to begin drawing another box. The Rubber-band Circle: Again, operating much like the other Rubber-band tools, the Rubber-band Circle is drawn by using the LEFT button to set the first point, then drawing the circle in the current line color with the RIGHT button. NOTE: It is not necessary to hold down the LEFT button while "rubber-banding" Spray: Spray is like using a can of spray paint. Holding down the LEFT button and moving the mouse at the same time will cause your cursor to act as a can of spray paint. Paint Roller: The Paint Roller is used to "fill" enclosed areas with the currently selected background color (see "The Pallet" below). To fill, position the cursor on the desired location on the Canvas, and press the LEFT button. IMPORTANT: The area being filled must be completely enclosed, or the "paint" will leak into the rest of the drawing. If this happens, using the ESCAPE key will "undo" your spilled paint, and allow you to go back and close up the hole, and start filling again! The Eraser: The Eraser will "erase" in the currently selected background color (see "pallet" below). Hold down the LEFT button to begin erasing. The Scissors: The Scissors has two functions. Cut and Copy, and Cut and Move. The Cut and Copy will copy the cut-out, leaving the original intact. The Cut and Move will "move" the original, leaving behind only the current background color (see "pallet" below). To Cut and Copy: After you've selected the Sicssors icon, move the cursor onto the Canvas to a point outside the area that you wish to cut out. Press the LEFT button to start a rubber-band box and adjust by moving the mouse until you have surrounded the desired area within the box. Then, press the LEFT button again to "cut out" the part that you want. Now, the cursor becomes the box you've just cut out with a hand in the center. This tells you that you are free to move the mouse anywhere on the canvas and place it where you want to "copy" the cut-out. Pressing the LEFT button again will copy the cut-out where you've placed the icon. To Cut and Move: Follow the steps above for Cut and Copy, but replace the last with the RIGHT button on the mouse. This will "move" the image, leaving nothing behind. The Text Mode: Selecting this icon will allow you to place text on the Draw2Me Canvas. After selecting the Text Mode icon, move the cursor to the area of the Canvas where you want to place text. Then press the LEFT button on the mouse. Now, any text you type using the keyboard will appear on the Draw2Me Canvas, and not the Chat Window. To end the Text Mode, simply press RETURN or ESCAPE. Undo: Where the escape key will allow you to undo the last point set and anything connected to that point, the Undo icon is much more powerful. Use the Undo icon for "undoing" everything done in the current icon. For example, say you start with the pencil, and then change icons to the Rubber-band Circle, and place a series of circles. By selecting the Undo icon, you will remove ALL of the circles you just placed, leaving everything you did with the pencil. Note: The Undo "undoes" only the elements that were created SINCE YOU LAST SELECTED AN ICON. To insure that you don't undo something that you are sure that you want, you can move to the Toolbox and select the same icon that you are currently working with. This way, any future elements created in that icon will be able to be "undone" WITHOUT removing the elements drawn prior to the LAST ICON SELECTION. The Help Icon: This icon brings up the Draw2Me Help Screen (see "the Help Screen" later in this section). The Exit Icon: This icon causes you to exit the program. Be sure that you're counter part knows that you are exiting the program. Using this icon will not only exit the program, but break the connection with the other user at the same time. The Disk Icon: The Disk Icon brings up the Draw2Me File Screen (see "The File Screen" later in this section. The Pallet: This icon is divided in to two parts. The upper half is the forground (drawing color), and the lower half is the background. To select a drawing color: Place the cursor on the upper portion of the Pallet Icon, and press the left button on the mouse. This will run you through the colors. When you find the desired color, you are free to move to the Canvas and continue to draw. Any new elements drawn with any of the icons (with the exception of the Eraser) will now appear in the new color. To select a background color: Move the cursor to the lower half of the Pallet and press the left button. This will now affect the Paint Roller and the Eraser icons only. Both will now operate in the newly selected color. LOADING and SAVING DRAWINGS To load or save a drawing, position the cursor onto the floppy disk shaped icon and press the left button on the mouse to bring up the Draw2Me File Screen. Then, use the function keys at the bottom of the screen (see The Draw2Me File Screen later in this section). The DIALING DIRECTORY ALT-D will bring up the directory. Use the corresponding keys at the bottom of the screen to start the function you wish to perform. When entering a telephone number in the directory, it is not necessary to use any spaces, hyphens, or parenthesis when entering the phone number. Draw2Me automatically saves your entries unless you decide to delete them. The Draw2Me HELP SCREEN The Draw2Me help screen contains a complete list of command keys and icon descriptions. To see the Help Screen, you must first have Draw2Me loaded and have the main Draw2Me screen on your monitor. Then, move the cursor to the "question mark" icon (?) and press the left button on the mouse. The Draw2Me FILE SCREEN To use the Draw2Me File Screen, you must first have Draw2Me loaded and have the main Draw2Me screen on your monitor. Move the cursor to the floppy disk shaped icon and press the left button on the mouse. The Draw2Me File Screen will then appear showing a list of files with the extention "D2M". These files may be called up onto the main Draw2Me screen and edited, transmitted to the other user, deleted, etc. SHELLING TO DOS Shelling to DOS means to temporarily exit the Draw2Me program and re-enter your computers disk operating system. This can be very useful when you find that you need to refer to a file or program WITHOUT disconnecting the other user. To use the Shell to DOS function, simply type ALT-Z. IMPORTANT: While in DOS shell, DO NOT re-run Draw2Me! The following is a complete list of function and alternate keys and their corresponding application: ALT-C: Clear Screen. ALT-D: Directory for easy dialing. ALT-H: Hang up. ALT-L: Toggle (on/off) Chat Log File ALT-X: Exit the program. ALT-Z: Shell to DOS F1: Help Screen F2: File Screen F3: Grid F4: Zones Esc: Un-set the last point set. --------------------------------------------------------------- USING THE CONFIGURATION EDITOR NOTE: This section is for advanced communications users ONLY! Four configuration files have been provided with Draw2Me, so there should be no need to use this editor if you have a Hayes compatible modem and are using it in a normal fashion. The configuration editor is used to create your own configuration program if you are using a modem other than Hayes compatible. Before using this editor, be sure to read your modem's manual so that you are familiar with the elements and terms of modem communications. LOADING THE CONFIGURATION EDITOR There are two ways to initiate the configuration editor. You may simply type: D2MCFG at the DOS prompt. This will bring up the configuration screen. Now you are free to load and edit a configruation file. Another way to initiate the configuration editor is to type: D2MCFG ALONE which will automatically load the editor and the ALONE configuration file all ready for you to edit. THE MAIN CONFIGURATION EDITOR SCREEN The main configuration editor screen is basically divided into two sections: The main window, and the command window. The command window is used to choose the function that you wish to preform. The editor window is used to display and edit the modem communication elements. The Configuration Editor Help Screens The F1 key will bring up a window in the upper lefthand corner giving you the choice of which help screen you wish to see: The editor, or configure help screens. The editor help screen gives you a complete list ofcommand keys and their corresponding function. The configure help screen gives you a complete list of Draw2Me configuration elements. Be sure to look at each of these screens if you plan on creating your own configuration file. <<< Editor Commands >>> F2 - EDIT, Use to change a command value. F3 - DIRECTORY, Desplays directory from disk. F4 - LOAD, Loads a CONFIGURE file from disk. F5 - SAVE, Saves a CONFIGURE file in memory to disk. F6 - CLEAR, Erase CONFIGURE file in memory. F7 - Change directory/path. F10 - Quit, Terminates program and exits to DOS. <<< Configure Help >>> Configuration Type - Either DIRECT, HOST, ALONE, or CALLER. Init. String - Initializes Modem. Refer to modem's manual. Dial Command - Command for modem to DIAL. Dial Suffix - Follows a modem command. (ei: !) Hang Up String - Sequence that makes modem HANG UP. Auto Answer String - Sequence to set modem to answer. Communications Port - Communications port modem is connected to. Baud Rate - 300, 1200 or 2400 baud. Down Load Path - Path for all DOWNLOADS. Pause Xlat Char - Character translation for PAUSE. CR Xlat Char - Character translation for CARRIAGE RETURN. CTRL Xlat Char - Character translation for CONTROL. ESCape Xlat Char - Character translation for ESCape. Sound On/Off - Determines if BEEPing will be present. --------------------------------------------------------------- USING LOGFIX If at sometime during a Draw2Me session, you enabled the Log File option ( Alt L ), Draw2Me created a file on your disk called "DRAW2ME.LOG". This file contains an encoded version of everything that the Local and Remote users typed in the Chat Window while the Log File was open. In Order to view the DRAW2ME.LOG Log File, you must run the utility called "LOGFIX.EXE". This utility permits you to save the Chat messages to a file or to the printer. You may need this to keep records of conversations that went on during a Draw2Me session. To print a formatted DRAW2ME.LOG file to a printer, type: LOGFIX {enter} To send the formatted output to another file, type : LOGFIX filename {enter} The filename may be anthing you like. You will probably want it to be something related to the drawing that you and the remote user were working on. Bear in mind that if the log file is opened again, the contents of the previous session will be lost. If you want to save the text of the log file, it is always best to do this immediately after the current Draw2Me session. --------------------------------------------------------------- THANK YOU FOR USING Draw2Me from DLS Development !